indicator wiring

[JimmyR]

Well I'm nearly finished completely rewiring my '82 GS1100G. Wow - what a job! I just have the ignition and starter to go.

I am using quite a lot of non-original parts in the rebuild. This has created a problem with the indicators. Right now I have the stock rear end on the bike but the headlight, front indicators, clocks and switch gear are all from various other sources. I am delighted that my extremely cool new speedo and tacho seem to work - the LED backlighting is good and strong, the idiot lights all function in the speedo (oil pressure, indicators, neutral and hi-beam) and the head and tail lights work.



The only things that don't work right now are the indicators. Front and rear are connected, but all only have a live connection and a ground. In the case of the front indicators the actual light casing is the ground. There is only one wire coming from each. The switch is a 3-way with 3 connections - common, left and right.

So I have hooked up the indicators as per the original schematic except of course I don't have the grey wires on the front ones because my lights don't have 3 connections. So what happens when I switch say the left indicators on is that neither the front nor rear lights come on and the relay makes a rapid clicking sound. If I unground the front indicators the rears come on but don't blink, which is what I would expect. I have hooked up the relay with O/G going to the 12V and the light green going to the switch. I haven't connected the black/blue to anything. I am not using the big "turn signal control unit" box.

Should I use a regular relay? What am I doing wrong? I want the electrics to be as simple as possible!

Thanks guys!

[Steve]

Since you have "completely rewired" your bike, I have to ask: did you re-use the self-cancelling turn signal system, along with the stock flasher unit?

The stock flasher is a 3-pin unit that is not like ANY other 3-pin unit you will find ANYWHERE. One pin is for power coming in, a second pin is for the intermittent power going to the signals, but the third wire is connected to the control unit, which tells the flasher unit when to stop flashing. Virtually all other 3-pin units have internal circuitry to control the flash rate, and use the third pin as a ground for that circuitry.

If you are trying to re-use the self-cancelling signals, just connecting the signals the same as the stock system should work fine. If you have eliminated that system, just use a normal 2-pin flasher and it should work.

.

[JimmyR]

Cool - thanks! I had a feeling that was the case. Previously I had been told that you can just unplug the big control box and you could use the signals in the regular way. So no, I didn't reuse the big box. Anyway I'll just get a regular signal relay and should be sweet.

I was almost surprised when everything else worked! I am reusing the starter motor relay, fuse box and some of the wire but everything else is new.

Thanks heaps for your help - much appreciated.

[Steve]

Too bad you are using the stock fuse box.

Unless you have cleaned it up a LOT, it is the source of many of the "low-voltage" problems in our bikes.

.

[JimmyR]

Really? I hadn't read about that. I haven't done anything to it. Mine is the fusebox with blade fuses, not glass. Is there something I should know??

[duaneage]

I resoldered the connectors in my fusebox since they needed it. The glass fuse box is a bit hated but the ears can be replaced or cleaned easy enough. I have a good clean one on my bike but resoldering the connectors to the wires improved the voltage being delivered.

I also replaced a few pins in the Molex connectors which were corroded. These bikes are pushing 30 + years so it's time to maintain them.

I finishd off with Deoxit spray for the switches and connectors.

[JimmyR]

Oh ok. Thanks! That's one reason I decided to rewire the bike, apart from the fact that the stock wiring had been hacked and wrapped in disintegrating PVC tape. I have used all new connectors so hopefully it won't need rewiring for another 30 years.

[JimmyR]

Yay - I got my lights all working. Once I replaced the flasher relay I found that as soon as I plugged in the new front indicators I was blowing the light circuit fuse. Turns out that I you tighten the bolt that holds the light to the bike too tightly it shorts out. Kinda hard to explain, but it's fixed now.

Loving the help guys!